Okay, so I saw the movie "Oppenheimer" yesterday and published my review of it earlier today. But the movie really fascinated me and got me thinking quite a bit. I researched the historical accuracy of it. For the most part, this movie is mostly historically accurate.
Now that said, I am not sure that everything happened quite like it did in the movie. For example, one thing that I wanted to know after watching this was whether or not President Harry Truman actually called Oppenheimer a "cry baby." Turns out that the answer is yes, although it did not happen quite the way it was portrayed in the movie. Still, the spirit of the thing was there, portrayed symbolically. Oppenheimer by then understands the dangers of his creation, and Truman come across as more interested in hijacking the bomb for his own purposes, as well as seemingly arrogant to the point of incredulity in his absolute certainty that the Russians cannot possibly ever develop their own bomb, even though Oppenheimer makes clear that, by his estimation, they likely will, and that it is more a matter of when, not if.
Some things, of course, we cannot know. Not to give any spoilers away, but towards the end of the movie, we see Oppenheimer imagining numerous nuclear missiles flying past him and going off through much of the globe, presumably launching a nuclear holocaust, although we never actually do get to see the aftermath fully. Still, this also feels true to the spirit, because these are the major and obvious concerns, not just by Oppenheimer, but by almost all of us. The question of whether humanity actually is responsible or mature enough to handle the awesome power of such weaponry is still very much up for debate. Certainly, we accept the stated opinion in the movie that the Nazis very much cannot be trusted in possession of such weapons. But the unanswered question is whether we can be trusted with it. Remember, we recently had a sitting president who asked - multiple times! - why we couldn't actually use the bombs, if we have them. He also boasted about his button being bigger than that of Kim Jong-un's of North Korea. So this movie is asking us to think about issues that are still very much relevant in our times, despite these events having mostly taken place nearly eight decades ago now.
One thing that I wanted to say in the review, but which I forgot to insert, is that this movie likely requires multiple viewings. After seeing it, I was afraid that I had missed the significance of an alarming portion of the dialogue. Turns out, after going over numerous reviews, that seems to be the consensus. That in fact, there is just "too much" packed into it. That despite the three hour mark being unusually long for a movie, it still seems to somehow cover too much and, paradoxically, not enough.
But I digress. For the most part, this movie is historically accurate. And again, it is worth watching. I strongly urge everyone to go out and see it!
Here's What 'Oppenheimer' Gets Right--and Wrong--about Nuclear History By Lee Billings, Jeffery DelViscio, Carin Leong on July 21, 2023:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/heres-what-oppenheimer-gets-right-and-wrong-about-nuclear-history/
Did Truman Really Call Oppenheimer a Cry Baby? BY TIM MOLLOY JULY 20, 2023
https://www.moviemaker.com/truman-cry-baby-oppenheimer/
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